I'm steamed right now

I had an interesting encounter last night. Since subbing doesn't quite cut the mustard, I've been supplementing my income the past few years by tutoring students at a well-known national chain. The other day, I had one student come in prepping for the SAT, and I was given the responsibility for the math section. Well, it was very clear to me that she was not ready for this. She had had two weeks to do the homework I'd given her, and that was only a few pages, and she hadn't done it, claiming she didn't have time (she'd only started it the night before). No problem, I said, we can work on it now. As we worked, it became clear that her skills are not where they need to be, either. She had to struggle with simple concepts like absolute value and solving a simple algebraic equation, and I had to tell her what to do several times. I understand that not everyone is strong in math, and I empathize with people who struggle, so I tried to do my best to help her. Fortunately, for her second hour (yes, she was there for two hours), my other students didn't show up, so I could work with her one-on-one. I could have taken another student from another teacher, but I felt this student really needed the attention. (The other teacher was helping her out on the verbal and writing sections of the SAT, and he later agreed that that was a good call, and he had no problem dealing with more than one student that hour as a result.) Later, after she was gone, I talked with one of our directors of education, and I'm pretty sure I convinced him that this student was not ready for the SAT.

Fast forward to yesterday. As soon as I got in, the center director called me in, and told me that something I said made her feel stupid. Huh? So I pressed for details, but he didn't have any! He didn't know what I said, as he hadn't even talked to the student. He'd gotten the news from one of the directors of education who had talked with the student's mother. Not only that, the center director mentioned another incident of me being "insensitive" from a few weeks ago that he never even mentioned to me, and he didn't remember any of the details any more. Huh? So, armed with all this information, he reminded me to be more sensitive about what I'm saying to students, yada yada yada. Yeah, like I know what not to say now, that was really helpful.

Look, I don't deny that the student might have felt bad about what was going on. I know I was frustrated at the situation, and I'm sure she was as well. Having to do it for two hours (instead of the usual one) only made the situation worse. But I was doing everything I could to be encouraging and upbeat and helpful and enthusiastic, but all I get told is, "You said something that made her feel stupid, don't do it again."

What really frosts me, however, is this other incident. Either it was so insignificant that nobody decided to tell me, or I had forgotten about it. Well, if it was the latter, it's my fault, but I swear, I can't remember any discussions about similar incidents in the last few weeks. In any case, what was the point of bringing it up if neither one of us could remember the details? It just smacked to me of some of the baloney that was going on with my time in Marysville. The principal there would bring up little incidents that happened weeks earlier, or repeatedly bring up minor incidents that she'd already talked to me about when she had a new one to grill me for. Frankly, I really do not enjoy having my mistakes held against me more than once, nor do I appreciate people with gripes against me holding them in and not telling me until much, much later. If I mess up, I want and need to know as soon as possible, and I want to be trusted to have to deal with them only once and not have them thrown in my face again and again.

This job has been terrific, as it has given me stability over the past few turbulent years, and I've got to work with some terrific people — both students and staff. But this reprimand just rubbed me the wrong way, and it's got me in a major funk. How can I not do it again if I don't even know what it was in the first place? And why am I accused of such a thing when I was put into such a challenging situation, anyway? Sheesh. It really makes me wonder why I even get out of bed some mornings.

π, we've got π...

It looks like I have the day off, as nobody has called me for a job. Fine with me, since today is the most important holiday of the year for math teachers: π Day! Yes, this is the day (3/14) when we celebrate the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter (3.14...). So, here are some links to celebrate the day (which, by the way, is also Albert Einstein's birthday):

• Here's a rerun: A Musical Tribute to π (a good one to have on in the background while you browse the rest of these links). Ooh! And here's the complete song as an MP3 file!.
  
  
• Another rerun: π to a million places, which has one of the best URLs I've ever seen: http://3.141592653589793238462643383279502884197169399375105820974944592.com/.
  
  
• π Day activities here and here.
  
  
• π Day in Wikipedia
  
  
• π Day resources, which also reminds us that this year sees the tricentennial (that's three hundred years, doncha know) of π being used as the symbol for this all-so-important number.
  
  
• So to celebrate this day, send your sweety-π a π Day greeting card!
  

I think, later today, Laura and I are going to go out and get some custard tarts to celebrate. (Well, they are small pies...)

UPDATE: Yup, Laura and I ate custard tarts. At 3:14 p.m., no less. (Not that she was terribly happy waking her up from her nap then. And she couldn't wait, she started nibbling at 3:13...)

Playing catch-up

Well, I have a few minutes this morning, I can pop in and let you know what's been going on. But I'm probably going to be pretty quiet over the next few weeks, as my top priority right now is filling in applications and otherwise hunting for a job for next year.

So this past week, I actually spent the whole time teaching math. Okay, one day was only a half day where it turned out I was only needed to teach just one class, but that gave me some badly needed downtime that morning. The last three days of the week, I filled in for the basketball coach while their team was at the state tournament. Although heavily favored, they lost the first game, and eventually came in eighth, but it was still exciting to work where the students were up for the team. Needless to say, they didn't have a lot to do, partly because the coach had other things on his mind and probalby didn't want to bog himself down with a lot of work this week, and partly because he didn't know what kind of teacher he was getting, and wanted to make the work pretty simple for someone without a math background. Still, I was able to help out a few students here and there, but these are some of the more advanced students, so it wasn't terribly hard for me at all.

This week is the WASL, the big comprehensive statewide test. And for the first time, the sophomores have to pass it to graduate, so some extra pressure there. I suspect that will mean a slight reduction in work for me, but so far that's not the case, as I have a junior high tech ed (shop and/or computers) job today, and the week is still young...

Hi, what's up?

Well, not much to tell you. I've had six good days of teaching in the last six work days, but nothing spectacular. Some high school English, some elementary PE, some high school science... I'm not even sure I can remember all the jobs I had this past week.

A couple of interesting things stand out, however. One is an incident while I was teaching a sixth grade class, They were a great bunch of kids, very helpful when I got lost, that sort of thing. But there was one girl in the class who liked one of the boys — and she demonstrated it by frequently sneaking up behind him and giving him a hug. I could tell just by the look on his face that this was not reciprocated (well, he is a sixth grade boy, girls do mature faster, he was clueless and not ready for it). One time when I caught her at it, I called her over and explained that it was not appropriate for school, which sobered her up right away. When I mentioned that it could even be construed as sexual harassment, she really sobered up, and to her credit (and his relief), she cut it out. I hope the message got through, but just in case, I also wrote a long note to the teacher about it. I hope the teacher, who is a woman and knows the student much better than I could, can give her a better talk about it. I don't want to squelch the student's enthusiasm, just channel it in the right direction. I also she has patience, it's going to be at least another year, most likely, before the boys can figure out how to handle her. (On a side note, I hope she does keep expressing her interest in boys she likes, in a positive way. When I was that age, I wish someone had whacked me over the head with a clue-by-four!)

The other standout is not one single thing, but a phenomenon. Twice this past week, I stepped in for teachers who had had subs — different subs — the day before. That can be very tough for not only the new sub, but also the students, who don't know what is going on. One of those cases was the sixth grade class I just talked about, and as I said, they were pretty good about cluing me in. It helped, however, that once I realized the situation, I asked them to keep me clued in. I found the teacher's plans, as she'd had some time to come in and get things set, but not much, as the plans were sketchy. Maybe she thought the previous sub would be back. Something similar happened with the high school science class. This is a teacher whose new daughter apparently has been very sick, and he's being a good father and helping to take care of her. However, he's been out frequently over the past few weeks as a result (I even was in for him one day a few weeks ago), and his students are getting very frustrated. His astronomy classes are especially annoyed at all the videos they have been watching lately. I don't have a solution, but it would be a great service for everyone involved if a teacher retains a substitute if there is any possibility of the regular teacher being out for another day. That could at least avoid the revolving door of serial subs. In the case of the science teacher, he might want to think about finding a sub with a science background and making arrangements for him or her to step in when he can't be there. I don't know, it's tough, there are no easy answers.

Still working on that job hunt, but March looks pretty quiet so far, and I hope to get a lot more work going here soon as a result. I just wish I had all of my evenings and weekends free so I could concentrate on that, instead of having to work the second job. It's better now that I'm tutoring only two nights a week, but it still eats up more time than I care to spare.

Pi, we've got pi...

Just in case you wanted to see it, here's π to a million places. Check out the URL for the site when you get there, too.

Catching up

The irony of this blog is I have the most time to write thoughtful entries when I'm not actually teaching — like now. But it's supposed to be a blog about teaching. Go fig.

I've had a lot more PE jobs this past week. I don't mind PE most of the time, particularly when the kids already know what they're doing and all I really have to do is supervise. But it's not my thing, I was never really much of a jock in school (which is probalby actually a good thing when I'm teaching), and I'd rather teach math. Oh, well. And I made a very accurate predition on Friday. When I snagged a science job and realized it was the day before a week's vacation, I said to myself, "I'm showing a video, aren't I?" Sure enough... This was interesting, however, because I got to show it from the teacher's computer, through a video projector and onto the big pull-down screen that fewer and fewer classrooms have these days. And it was a lot of very interesting information about the space program, the space shuttle, and the ISS — all presented in a dull, lifeless manner. I guess that's always been the problem with educational films, though, isn't it?

So, I'm trying to get a lot of chores and tidying done this week, and tomorrow I get my final letter of recommendation so that I can finally start applying for jobs. We shall see what happens. Thursday and Friday one of the districts I work in is back in session, so I'll see if I can snag something, but next week is when it really gets busy again.

Links, oh we've got links...

This article in today's edition of The Seattle Times was sure interesting, I thought. And certainly helps answer that old "When are we ever going to use this?" question.

My wonderful sister-in-law found a couple of good links for me recently. This one has to do with the Riemann Hypothesis, while this one is a musical tribute to π. Oh, yeah, and here's a site about number spirals.

And finally, free graph paper as PDF files!

Now I KNOW things are different in Marysville!

Remember the Marysville school district, where I started off and promptly got involved in the longest teachers' strike in state history? And it went downhill from there? Well, the results of the latest levy and bond elections are finally in, and wonders of wonders, they both passed! Both needed sixty percent to pass. The levy passed with 60.18%, while the bond squeaked by with 60.06% — a margin of only eight votes. This is significant as it's the first bond passed in the district in sixteen years. Now the district can build the second high school and another elementary school which they desperately need. For details, here's the story in The Seattle Times and, loathe though I am to send traffic their way, The Everett Herald.

The past week of teaching

So far, it's been going well, if not spectacularly. This past week was interesting, as I had two days of math with the same classes (that doesn't happen very often), followede by three days of PE. The math classes were pretty dull for me, as all they were doing was reviewing for a test on Monday, then taking the test on Tuesday. But I think I was able to help at least a few of them understand what was going on. Wednesday's PE was at the local high school, which is close enough that I usually walk, but that morning it was raining, and I got a late enough start that I decided it would be better to drive. At least I got to use some of the exercise equipment while I was there so as to get at least some walking in. The next day was elementary PE (which included a lockdown drill, fun fun), then Friday up at the local junior high (I was able to walk it that day, thank goodness), where I actually showed a video on tobacco to four health classes. Overall, not terribly exciting, but it keeps my foot in, and the wolf away, from the door.

So far nothing much lined up for this week except another PE jo at a junior high that was pretty much all in portables the last time I was out there. I took the job specifically so that I could see the new school. Compared to what it used to be like, I'll bet it's spectacular. Then the week after that I get a few days off, as both districts I work in have mid-winter break that week — but one of them only has it for three days, so I can at least get a couple days work in. I'm still not sure I see the point of a mid-winter break in February, but I'm not complaining! I'll be using the time off to update my Wizard of Oz website, do my taxes, and watch the Olympics.

Oh, yeah, and get started on the job hunt. I'm still waiting for a couple of letters before I can really get started, but one they're in...

Back to the same old thing...again...and yet...

You know, as good as my last job was, with very small classes and individualized instruction and such, I'm glad I'm out of there. I was getting bored, to be honest, as there were many times I didn't really have that much to do. Plus which, while most of the students were great, there were the handful that were there because no other school would take them, and they could make teaching a lot less fun than it should be, if you know what I mean.

So, Friday I got back into the sub pool yet again, but at least it felt right for once. I'm becoming more convinced that the public school classroom is where I need to be, at least at this stage of my life. The energy of the last few days has just been exhilarating. Not only that, I'm finding that I'm wanted. One junior high teacher I talked to the other day had been trying to get me for a while, and was frustrated when the system told him I was unavailable. But I'll be back for him later this month. And yesterday, at another junior high, the department head came in after school and asked me some pointed questions about the curriculum, whcih makes me thing... Nah, I've been disappointed too many times before, so I'm not going to speculate. Besides, it's a long time before September still. However, with a day off today, I decided to work on brushing up my résumé.

So, sad sign of the times I saw yesterday: A student had to use her calculator to figure out what 0 divided by 6 was. I gave her a bit of a mock scolding — then had to do it again later in the period when a student, working on the same problem, used his calculator to figure out six divided by six. At least both of them took it in good humor.

Oh, yeah, and on Friday, I'll be at the same junior high I was at on Monday. So before I left, I checked to see if it would be all right to wear something with a Seahawks logo. The secretary pretty much made it clear that I wouldn't be allowed in the door if I didn't have something Seahawks on... That should be a fun day...

So what do I do with my evenings now?

I've discovered a weird problem in my life: I don't know what to do at night anymore when I'm home. Now that I'm down to tutoring only two nights a week, I'm not sure what to do those nights I have off. I've been doing the four nights a week thing for so long that, on a night like tonight when everything gets done early and I have a few spare hours, I'm kind of at loose ends. To be sure, I'll be working on the job hunt very soon here — I've already started lining some of those ducks up, in fact — but for now I kind of feel lost. Mind you, I don't mind, as it actually gives me a chance to catch my breath...

Maybe I'll post an entry to my blog...

Just as things were starting to look good...

I was informed yesterday that my new, steady job is to end at the end of the semester, which is on January 26. It seems they are having a major money flow problem, and need to reduce staff to make ends meet. And as the most recent hire without a special education endorsement, I'm the guy.

Damn.

Another large prime number found

Just in case you haven't already seen it in the news or something, here's a rare bit of mathematics news:

http://www.cnn.com/2006/EDUCATION/01/04/largest.prime.number.ap/index.html

So what do you do with a 9.1 million-digits-long number, anyway?

Everything has truly come to an end in Marysville

This article (it's dated Wednesday, but only showed up in my local edition of The Seattle Times today) puts a final nail into the mess that was the Marysville School District while I was there. But it's still a messed up place, and they will be until the community can find it in their best interests to build new schools...

Math in the comics

Here's something you don't see every day: A math joke in the comics that doesn't involve kids doing their homework. Check out today's Frank and Ernest. The amusing things is, a lot of people are not going to get at least part of it...

A badly needed day off

They sent me home from school today. One look at my eye — my right eye is badly bloodshot and swollen, hurting like crazy — and they said they'd cover my classes. So I came home and made an appointment, and I am seeing a doctor this afternoon. I've had this before, I suspect my schlaeritis (which I'm sure I've misspelled horribly) has come back. The good news? We have new medical benefits that kicked in earlier this week. It's not full-blown insurance, but it will be a big help.

Just so you won't have to just hear me whinge on in this post, I read this article about the WASL this morning in The Seattle Times. Very interesting development. I wonder if it will result in a change.

Taking care of some old business

I have decided that the time has come for me to disclose to the world how I voted a couple of years ago. The vote? Whether or not we should obey a judge's order and start the school year after six-plus weeks of a strike, or continue. (Remember the Marysville teachers' strike, the longest in Washington state history? The one that pretty much dominated this blog when it started? Yup, that one.)

First off, I'm always a little perturbed when I read about the result, in that news reports all say that that the teachers went back to work because of the judge's order. That was not the case. The closed-door discussion made it very clear that if we went back to work, it would be because we wanted to, not because we were ordered to. Furthermore, everyone agreed that we would support our colleagues no matter what the result was. If the Marysville School Board and Superintendant had hoped to break the union by not negotiating, then taking it to court, it backfired big time, because all it did was strengthen the bonds and made us a cohesive unit.

The final vote was something like 69% voting to go back to work. And I will now tell the world that I was one of those who voted to go back. I will admit, I waffled quite a bit the whole time, going back and forth with indecision. Finally, I decided to vote "Back to work," not because the judge ordered us to, but because I didn't think the strike was going to be effective any more. If the Board and Superintendant had actually wanted to settle, they would have actually engaged in negotiations, and not use the press to spread propeganda (and yes, I do blame The Everett Herald as a party for making a bad issue even worse — but that's for another day, if at all). Frankly, I thought the strike was having no effect at all on the Board. It was time to show our commitment to the students of Marysville and go back for them, and work to elect a new Board which would deal with us fairly. At the time, however, I decided to keep my vote private. Even after the results had been announced, I decided to hold my tongue, as I still wasn't sure if I'd made the right decision. At this stage of the game, however, it's a moot point. A couple of weeks later, three new members joined the Board, replacing three of the biggest proponents of the actions that led to the strike. Not long after, the Board bought out the contract of the Superintendant. Since then, I've left the district, and they've had another contract approved and another election for the Board. All of the problems that led to the strike seem to have been overcome. Now, if only they could pass a bond to build some new schools and remodel the ones they have. About thirty percent of the district's students attend classes in portables, Marysville-Pilchuck High School is one of the most overcrowded in the state, and yet the voters haven't passed a bond in over fifteen years. Go fig. At least it's no longer my problem.

A good way to get kids interested in reading a book...

...is to make a stink about it and remove it from the school library. Here's the article, and one of the scary things is, this is a local school, down the road from us in the Tacoma area.

Another scary thing is the precedent their reasoning sets. If the real reason that the district removed The Geography Club was because a character meets someone from a chat room, then what other books should be removed for also promoting risky behavior that schools don't want students to copy? Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer? The Outsiders? Catcher in the Rye? I'm sure we can all think of all kinds of other books that should be, by that spurious logic, removed.

The worst jobs in science

Popular Science recently released its annual list of the ten worst jobs in science.

Take a look at what came in at number three.

Did you think I'd disappeared?

Well, thank goodness for three-day weekends. This finally gives me a chance to blog about my new job and other stuff that's going on in my life. So if you thought I was dead or something, nope, just busy. Further complicating matters is that, as the new job started, the paperwork at my evening tutoring job also cranked up, leaving little time for blogging. But now everything has gotten into some sort of routine, and I've gotten on top of things, so I can take a breather and catch up.

Granted, I'm not real sure what to say, as I have hit that routine. But let me see if I can at least give you an idea of what's going on. First off, this school takes students of all ages, but the elementary-age students have their own program that I'm not part of, so I'm working with the middle and high school-age students. The students have problems that cause problems in "normal" schools, such as ADHD, Asperger's Syndrome, high-level autism, dyslexia, dysgraphia, and even oppositional defiance disorder (those last ones are the toughtest, as they resent me coming in and taking over for the teacher whose job I took over). They're also very bright and have great senses of humor, so despite their "problems," they're a lot of fun to work with. To be sure, like any other students, they have good and bad days, and so I have to take what comes. The best part is, the classes are very small. I think my current biggest class has five students. There are also about a dozen ECI students. I haven't found out what ECI stands for, but I gather they are ordinary high school students who, for whatever reason, need a leg up while they're out of school for whatever reason. So they come to us to get a few hours of teaching. They're pretty good, too, for the most part, but there have been some who treated the program and instructors in such a way that I have no doubts at all why they aren't currently in their regular schools...

So when I started last month, I had the two advanced math students, the advanced science course, an ECI math class, an ECI science class, a high school writing class, and a weightlifting class. This was a bit more of a mixed bag than I was expecting, and I particularly feel that I did a crummy job with the writing class. Still, they did some stuff, which is good. The math students, both in the regular and ECI programs, were pretty easy to handle, as they all had individual programs. All I really have to do is check their work and tell them what to do next, helping out when they need it. Pretty straightforward. Science is also a bit of a problem, as we don't have a lab or a lot of equipment, and my science background is weak. I'm relearning a lot of this information as I'm teaching it to the students.

But this week, we started a new quarter, and the schedule was adjusted as a result. I'm now teaching four math classes, including two using a curriculum I'd not seen before, Math U See. I gather this program was originally developed with home schoolers in mind, but it works well with these students, as it doesn't approach things in the same way as traditional currricula. There is a lot more tactile and visual learning going on, which is a good thing for most math students, in my opinion. Furthermore, Math U See has many similarities to what I've been doing this whole time in my tutoring job, so I feel pretty confident with it. I no longer have the ECI science and writing classes, so now I just have the high school science and weightlifting classes in addition to math. So far this quarter is going much more smoothly, now that I'm settled in and know the students and routines much better. Not only that, I've cut back my evening tutoring to two nights a week, so I have some semblance of a normal teaching life, at least three nights a week, and my wife and I are able to watch Smallville as it's broadcast, not on tape over the weekend.

In general, despite the more challenging students and tutoring two nights a week (and Saturday mornings still, too), I'm feeling much more relaxed and comfortable with my life. Now, I can concentrate on school at work and the rest of my life at home. Come spring, I'll have to decide if I still want to get a "real" teaching job somewhere, and what Laura and I have to do to accomplish that, but that can wait. So I'll try to keep everyone posted as to what's going on, if there's much to say.

Here's an interesting turn in my life...

Okay, last Wednesday, after I typed up my last blog entry? I got a call from out of the blue that looks like it will change my teaching life...at least for a little while. It turns out that one of my wife's co-workers also works at a small private school that works with kids with ADHD, dyslexia, Asperger's Syndrome, and other such labels for those who are just plain different. This school needed a math teacher ASAP, so they called me! I went in that afternoon thinking they might interview me and see if I was up to snuff, but I was practically offered the job on the spot! (I guess they really are desperate.) So, starting tomorrow morning, I'll be taking on some math, science, and writing classes with very small groups. This could be extremely interesting! I'm a little nervous about the whole thing, as I'm still not sure what to expect -- and I don't think they do, either -- but I've spent some time this weekend filling out the paperwork and getting acquainted with some of the material, so I guess this is going to happen. Fortunately, they've promised not to throw me into the deep end, I'll get some time to find my way and get a better idea of what I need to do. The classes are very small -- in fact, my tutoring work may have been a big reason why they got me, as much of what I'll be doing sounds like what I've been doing there.

Now, the bad news is that it doesn't pay much better than subbing, and they're still so small that they can't offer any benefits. But it is a bit more stability than I've had the past few years, and if nothing else, it will be a good experience -- not to mention that it pushes Marysville one more line down the résumé! If it truly doesn't work out, I can always leave, it's that flexible, and I'll still have subbing and tutoring to fall back on. But it's something. It looks like I'll be pretty busy this week, as the tutoring job still needs me for the whole week (they're going to get me down to two nights a week as soon as they can figure out how to cover the other two), so I won't be able to tell you much about it until this weekend, most likely. And I'll be honest, I'm extremely nervous that I'm going to mess this up. But if they're willing to take a risk with me, I'm willing to give them everything I can. Wish me luck!

I'm starting to feel like a teacher again

Well, I seem to have the day off, so it's time for an update. I've been pretty busy lately, fortunately; todya is the first non-subbing day I've had in a week, and I suspect they're going to become very rare soon. So, last Tuesday I had the cold and took the day off to rest. Last Wednesday, no calls, so another badly needed rest day. Unfortunatley, Laura also got it, and we ended up missing the free preview screening of Corpse Bride I had tickets to. Thursday, back to elementary PE again for my friend, as she'd caught the same cold. Thank goodness she has her gym miked up, as I needed that microphone to get anything out. (I have a loud enough voice that I don't normally need it in a gym.) Friday, a high school math job. A lot of the classes were just taking a quiz -- and they were short classes because the school had a guest speaker. But I was able to get some actual math in as well. I was surprised at how many of the more advanced math students had forgotten how to graph the line of an equation, but it was an assessment to see what they knew. I guess that teacher has her work cut out for her now. Monday, back to the gym again, and my friend had found an article about a PE version of quidditch (from the Harry Potter books) that she'd hoped I'd try. I did, and it was fun, but the classes were a little big to pull it off successfully. For the younger students, I thought I'd work on passing the ball and throwing it through the hoops before trying to put bludgers and golden snitches into the mix. And finally, yesterday was a lot of fun, as I subbed for a junior high drama teacher. I took enough theater classes in high school and college, and worked on a few shows, that I had no problem with it. The students knew what they were doing, so I just had to sit back, offer a few pointers, take some notes, and let them enjoy themselves.

And what's coming up? So far, it looks like nothing but math for a while. I have a junior high job tomorrow, I'm back at that high school on Friday (for the same teacher, even), and then... Well, Laura got a call from a math teacher at another high school who needs a long-term sub, and would I be interested? So far we're playing phone-and-e-mail tag, I don't know the details yet, but it's certainly something I'd like to do if it works out for everyone. Here's hoping!

Oooooooooooooohhhhhhhh..........

Occupational hazard: Getting every virus that comes down the pike. I've got the latest crud, so I decided to not seek a job for today and sleep instead. This is one of my biggest gripes with subbing: No sick leave, and no benefits! I hope the rest will do me good today, as I do have jobs lined up for later in the week. Plus, Laura and I have free preview tickets to Corpse Bride tomorrow night, and I'd hate to have to miss it.

New website discovery: From the NCTM's electronic newsletter comes word of a collaboration between CBS and Texas Instruments for a website about using the TV show Numb3rs for educational purposes. Laura and I have really taken to Numb3rs, and are looking forward to the new season starting soon. Take a look at http://www.cbs.com/primetime/numb3rs/ti/ for details.

Winnie Cooper, Math Goddess

I finally got a job teaching math today, and made an interesting discovery -- but I'll get to that in a bit.

First, a quick recap of my teaching week: Science and Spanish on Monday. This was interesting, as the teacher remembered me from last year, including a conversation in the staff room about subs being asked to jus show videos all the time. She knew I wasn't a fan of that, so she made sure I actually had something to teach! (But in her one Spanish class? A video -- one I'd shown to another teacher's classes last year! Oh, well, it was still fun. It's the History Channel's examination of the Aztecs.)

Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, nothing. I'm a little surprised at how few jobs there are now, as it's usually been my experience that there are a lot more jobs by this time. On the other hand, last year I wasn't able to start subbing until December, and the year before that I was on the picket line, so maybe I'm mistaken. While I need the money, having the extra time has been helpful to get some stuff taken care of around the house, including a major clean-up of my room. I found stuff that had been in boxed up before I got married, so this has been a long time coming!

And today, I got to teach junior high math at last. This was the very-far-out-there-in-the-boonies-at-least-from-here school that I was hoping to avoid working at this year so as to save on time and gas, but out of four jobs so far this year, I've been out there twice. It's okay, it's a great school with terrific students and staff, so I'll put up with it when they need me. Pretty straightforward teaching today, I had two classes (two hours long each, with a two-hours-and-lunch prep in between -- you've got to love those block schedules when they work out that way). We did a little homework correction, a little journal writing, a quiz (what a shock; if teachers don't know what kind of sub they're getting, it's often either a video or a quiz!), and a little preview of the next chapter.

But the interesting discovery came in one of the rooms I was teaching in. The teacher had laminated an article from The New York Times about the actress Danica McKellar. She is probably best known for playing Winnie Cooper in The Wonder Years way back in the '80s, and is now also known as Elsie Snuffin in The West Wing. (Her entry in the IMDB is right here.) Well, it turns out that in college, she really got into mathematics in a big way -- hence the title of this post. She was so good that her professor at UCLA encouraged her and a classmate (who is now a math professor herself) to do some high level research work -- the only undergraduates he'd ever asked to do so! The three of them even wrote a proof, and presented it at a symposium at Rutgers, where Danica and her classmate were the only undergraduate presenters. She considered going into math as a career, but liked acting too much, and went back to it full time after graduation. But she still has a hand in math as well. She's the celebrity spokesperson for Figure This, and has a section devoted to answering math questions on her website (www.danicamckellar.com, of course). And yes, she's played the lead in a production of the Pulitzer Prize-winning play Proof. I just thought it was really cool, and I wanted to share it with you.

Something else I've been wanting to share are some websites I picked up from the book Rookie Teaching for Dummies. Okay, yeah, I'm not really a rookie, but I sure feel like one still at times, especially after all the mistakes I made while I was in a previously unrecorded circle of Dante's Interno* Marysville. Anyway, among all the good advice, this book has some fun links that I hope my technical guru will eventually put over there into my sidebar:

• The Oriental Trading Company, a great site for buying little goodies for your students, including personalized pencils. My favorite that the author created was "My teacher loves me, but in a platonic way."
  
• calculus-help.com, the website of the book's author, W. Michael Kelly, and probably a site I need to spend some time on, as I've never been terribly strong with calculus anyway, and I've forgotten most of it now anyway.
  
• Some examples of WebQuests -- for students of all ages -- can be found at this site in Saskatoon (that's in Canada, for the geographically challenged).
  
• DiscoverySchool.com, the educaitonal arm of the Discovery Channel's website.
  
• PBS.com's TeacherSource
  
• Teacher's Network, including a section of resources for new teachers. I wish I'd known about them a couple of years ago...
  
• Teachers.net, which includes chatboards and other stuff. Again, why didn't I know about them a couple of years ago?
  
• Two sites where one can quickly and easily create a class website without knowing a lot of HTML: MyClass.net (free, but students and parents have to register, and it pays for itself with ads) and Home Page Builder at Scholastic (also free, without the ads).
  
• IceBreakers.us, those little quirky games or puzzles that break the ice at parties, in a new classroom, etc.
  
• Education World -- the name says it all, really.
  

Okay, is that enought to keep you busy for a while?

Already I have two jobs lined up for next week, so maybe things will start getting a little more regular. I hope so.

* Gee, do you think I'm still a little bitter about all that happened in Marysville?

My (short) week of teaching

As reluctantly expected, not much teaching this week. I already mentioned my half day of elementary PE the other day, and that went well. Yesterday (Friday), I managed to snag a junior high Spanish class. It was at a school w-a-a-a-a-y out of the way, which I would normally avoid just because of the distance. I'm trying to stay closer to home this year so I can save on gas! However, at this time of year, beggars can't be choosers, and it's a good school I've always enjoyed teaching at anyway. It went well, and a few students remembered me from last year. One student said I was his favorite sub because I was so high energy. I'll take that as a compliment. Later last night, I got a nice surprise. Last week I sent out some business cards and a note saying I was available to the math departments at several local schools, saying that I was experienced and available. Well, the department head at one of the junior highs had e-mailed, and asked if I'd like to be one of their regular subs this year. YEAH! I responded, although I hope not quite that enthusiastically.

And now, for a bit of fun: David Letterman's Top Ten Things You Don't Want to Hear from Your New Teacher, straight from the home office in Wahoo, Nebraska.

And good news for math heads like Laura and me: The new season of Numb3rs starts on September 23. Woo-hoo!

Quiet so far...

Not much has been going on yet. Actually, nothing at all, apart from the tutoring, since that call last week for a job I couldn't take. But that all changes tomorrow. An elementary PE teacher I've worked with in the past needs a sub tomorrow, and I've decided to take the job, despite the very tight turnaround time getting to the tutoring. But I need to teach, and this is at least a situation I know, and I'll always sub for her. In fact, she needs a sub for a couple more days this month...

Early morning wake-up

So of course this morning I get up early and shower, eat, make a lunch, and basically do anything I can to get ready in case I get a call -- and I don't. Well, I guess that means I have a full four-day weekend.

It's early in the year still, things will start picking up next week.

Whoops!

Well, no jobs showed up early on the websites today, so I didn't think I'd get a job. But lo and behold, the phone rang around 9:00 this morning -- for a job that started at 8:30. Never a good sign when they're that desperate. The job let out at 4:00, however, which is when I need to be at my tutoring job, so even if I'd had my shower and breakfast and packed a lunch by the time I got the call, it's unlikely I could have taken the job. Oh, well. I'll just have to remember to get ready early tomorrow, just in case. With no tutoring on Fridays, it would be that much easier to take any job that comes my way.

Time to get started

Officially, the school year started yesterday in one of the districts I sub in, and the other one today. At this stage of the game, I'm not holding out a lot of hope for a job offer to come through, so it looks like I'll be subbing and tutoring yet again this year. Crap.

It's been a frustrating summer, since I knew I was getting going too late to really be effective. And the tutoring hours actually went up a bit, so that cut into my time. Then all at once, Laura got sick (inner ear infection, she's fine now) and my computer's hard drive crashed (expensive repair, but I have a new one now, and they were able to save all the data, thank goodness), both of which put a further crimp on things. At least I got the one interview, so I'm not a total pariah...

At any rate, I need to work my butt off again for the next few months to get us back in better financial shape. But we will probably refinance our home later this year, and if I sub and tutor full time, I can actually get more money in a month than we need -- yes, it actually looks like we're going to get through this summer in decent shape, thanks to all that I socked away into savings. So if I can build up our reserves, I'm going to cut back on tutoring, and even take a day off or two from subbing, in the new year. That way, I hope to devote more time to applying for jobs. And I'm going to cast my net much wider than usual. Yes, I'm going to look for jobs out of our area, and Laura and I have agreed to move if someone wants to offer me a job out of this area. I'm not happy at that, but it may be time to shake our lives up a little bit anyway. We've been in this house for over seven years now, and I'm getting tired of beating on the door and not being let in more than a crack. If I'm going to be a successful teacher, it's clear that I can't do it without a lot of effort and willingness to make sacrifices. Fortunately, Laura's with me. So, we'll see what happens.

But for now, I just need to get in as many hours as I can at both jobs. So if anything should happen, I'll be sure to let you all know!

Two weeks and counting...

School starts (in the districts I sub in, at least) in two weeks, give or take a few days, and it's looking less and less likely that I'll get a "real" teaching job in that time. So I'm resigned to subbing and tutoring for a while longer. I am extremely unhappy with that, but I don't see any alternative right now. Once the new year starts, however, I will cut back my tutoring hours a bit and work more on job hunting. And Laura's already said that she'd be willing to move next summer if it means my finally getting a decent job, so I'll be casting my net much wider than usual. At least all the applications I have in already should mean a lot less work to do for those districts next year...

I don't think I got the job

After the interview last week -- which went well, although I know I didn't hit it out of the park -- I was told I'd hear by the middle of this week if I got the job.

Looks like I didn't get it.

Damn.

Things are stating to look up...

I need to call back and make arrangements tomorrow morning, but the good news is, I have been requested to interview for a job Thursday morning. More details when I know more...

What a difference two years makes

Out of morbid curiosity, every once in a while I check the site of The Everett Herald for news about the Marysville district, to see if things are getting any better. The voters failed to pass a bond this past spring, but it was close, and they're trying again this fall. It would be the first bond approved in the district since 1990, and would fund all kinds of remodelings and some desperately needed new schools, including a new high school. (Marysville-Pilchuk High School is one of the largest schools in the state iin terms of enrollment, and has several dozen classes held in portables. Meanwhile, one of the elementary schools is so cramped for space, they're turning the stage into two classrooms.) But the big news is that the contract that was approved while I was teaching there -- in April of that year, I might add -- ran out at the end of this past year. The sides actually got together over the summer, had some amicable negotiations, and an agreement was reached in two days. Heh. All it took was three school board members being voted out (and the other two threatened with recall), the superintendent's contract being bought out, a new head of the teachers' union, and the lingering memory of a seven week strike...

And so it ends...

One of the districts Iwork in still has a couple more days this week, today and tomorrow, and I had planned to at least attempt to find a job there to eke out a few more dollars before summer starts. However, it turns out that both districts have some paperwork due today so that I can sub next year (yes, that's a backup plan in case I can't get a real job for fall), so I'll take care of that instead. It's probably just as well, as I didn't get work for two days last week anyway, and I kept looking all weekend but nothing showed up for today anyway. Besides, it turns out I don't need the money as bad as I thought. In updating the checkbook last night, I found it showed a lot less money than the bank said we had. It turns out that I forgot to add in one of my paychecks last month, so now we have a lot more money than I thought, so suddenly the summer money situation looks a lot less bleak.

At any rate, it looks like summer "vacation" officially starts today. To be sure, I'll still be tutoring thirty hours a week, and when I'm not there I'll be filling out job applications and doing a lot of work around the house, but at least I'll be getting a bit of a breather. Later this week, I'll probably put up some sort of "Year in Review" reflection post, then over the summer I'll probably pop in once in a while with some thoughts on teaching in general, or whatever else crosses my mind.

Things are pretty quite around here...

I'm actually blogging from work, for the first time ever (and not something that is likely to happen again, for that matter). I'm at one of the local high schools subbing for a teacher of television production and multimedia. Since most of his students are seniors, and the seniors have all graduated now, it's been pretty quiet around here. But I guess I'd better get used to it, as there's still a potential eight days to go after today (and a handful of jobs already lined up on those days), so it might happen again if I get other high school jobs. Fortunately, I'm ot without a book or two, and it also gives me a chance to catch up on some sleep...

With summer coming, I need to clear the decks so I can at least spend the first few days concentrating on getting job applications filled out and sent in. I realize I may have already missed the biggest window of opportunity, but I have to be optimistic and tell myself that I will get a job for the fall. Because otherwise I will end up dwelling on the possibility of having to sub and tutor for more 13-15 hours days for the entire year next year, and I'm not sure I could take that. I'm always tired -- except when I'm actually in bed, of course -- my back is sore, I can feel myself getting out of shape, my diet isn't as healthy as it needs to be, and I'm having trouble keeping my cool around family and friends. In short, I'm a wreck, and if nothing else, summer will give me the chance to decompress a little bit. Further complicating matters is that we're drowning in debt with no immediate prospects of getting out, so even working long days at two jobs is only barely keeping our heads above water.

Okay, okay, Eric, start thinking happy thoughts... Hmm... Well, my wife is very close to achieving her goal for the 3-Day walk. I'm extremely proud of her for undertaking this. It's a three day, sixty mile walk to raise money for cancer, and I did it a few years ago myself. But I've always been a strong walker, and it wasn't too tough for me. Laura, however, has had a harder time of it in her training, but it looks like she's going to be fine in the end. So, if you can, I'm sure she'd appreciate those last few dollars. Even if you can only give five bucks, that will go a long way. To give, you can go to her donation page here. And maybe one year in the near future, we'll be able to do this walk together.

You know the end of the year is coming when...

A few indicators I've encountered over the past few days that the end of the school year is coming, even if I hadn't been paying attention to the calendar:

• Thursday, the high school I was at had a year-end recognition and awards assembly. Since I was subbing for a teacher with a zero hour class -- that's an additional class before the school day proper starts -- and I'd been there since 6:00, I passed on that and caught up on some sleep instead. (Hey, I didn't know any of the students, anyway.)
  
• Friday, another high school I was at had a barbecue and carnival at the end of the day. I had a burger and wandered around for a bit, but then went back to my room and caught up on some reading. I had permission to leave early, but knew I wouldn't get as much reading done if I'd gone home!
  
• Tomorrow, yet another high school I'll be at will have a morning assembly to say good-bye to the seniors. And since the teacher I'm subbing for doesn't have any students until after the assembly, I've been told I don't have to be there until 9:15!
  
• Of course, there's also the graduation announcement we received for our niece. The ceremony is on Friday, I seem to recall. (Congratulations, Morgan. We promise to get you a gift, but I'm afraid it won't be any time soon.)
  

Is the year over yet?

Lots of students counting down the weeks, and in some cases days, to the end of the year. I guess I am, too, although I dread what the summer money drought is going to do to our already decimated money troubles. I'm just tired and cranky all the time, and it's been keeping me from applying for any jobs, so that just adds to the frustration.

So let me talk about a good thing: This is a fun time of the year to sub, at least, because if a teacher has been doing his or her job right (like I certainly didn't last year in Marysville), the students all know the routines, and I, as the teacher, have to actually do very little. I've seen this in a few classes the last couple of weeks, notably the junior high PE classes I taught earlier this week where the students were already doing the stretching before I even got out there to take roll.

Last week, I had a now rare assignment in a regular elementary class. That was where I did my training and student teaching, but I haven't done it much lately, what with all the math and science jobs I've been finding at the junior and senior high levels. My tutoring job also keeps me from accepting all elementary jobs, since many of them get out too late for me to get to the learning center on time. But it was good to have one class for the whole day, and to actually get the chance to get to know some of the students, even for a little while.

Okay, I guess that's about it. More next time I can squeeze in the time to write.

Quick pop-in to say "Hello!"

Yup, busy weekend, which resulted in no post. Fortunately, I have a light-ish day today, and have a moment to get all of my loyal readers caught up.

Last week was Teacher Appreciation Week. At my tutoring place, we got baskets filled with fruit and candy. While I appreciate the gesture, I can't help thinking that the money spent on that would have also bought Laura and me a nice dinner out, or a gift card to the mall, either of which would have been much more practical...

I subbed a lot of high school science last week, and one of the teachers I filled in for took advantage of his absence to show his classes a movie he generally shows every year anyway: Apollo 13. Yup, it's a great film, and I enjoyed seeing it again. The only day I wasn't "teaching" science, I had a local junior high math job, which went very well.

Now, if only I could figure out how to do less teaching, while still making money, so that I would have a little breathing space to fill out applications and apply for jobs for next year!

Weird week of wonders

Despite the WASL, I managed to get work for the whole week. It all started Sunday evening with a high school math teacher calling me to ask if I could take her classes the next day, and possibly Tuesday. No problem, I said. Oh, she said, and thanks to WASL testing, she doesn't have a class until 10:40, so I wouldn't have to be there until late in the morning. Uh, yeah, not a problem! But Monday morning, my phone rang with another job for just that morning at another high school. Turns out a teacher there wanted to slough off the WASL so she could get a couple more hours sleep. Oh, well, it made for a full day for me, and the math classes were good for me (I'd worked with them before). The same teacher, as she thought she might, had to take Tuesday off as well, so that was another short day, and there wasn't another bit of WASL proctoring in the morning, so I had a relaxing morning...before hurrying out the door when I noticed just how late it was really getting! Again, a nice day of teaching and talking math with students who were interested! That doesn't happen very often.

Wednesday I snagged an elementary PE job. Woo-hoo, I got to wear shorts! This was a sudden absence, so the teacher had no plans ready. Fortunately, I've done enough PE that I have a few tricks up my sleeve, and it went well. Thursday was PE again, this time junior high, and just up the road so I could walk. It was a bright, warm, glorious spring day, and fortunately all of the classes were outside playing soccer. Also fortunatley, the other PE teacher had some sunscreen he let me use! This school, however, has been cutting PE teachers of late, so the PE department has no planning time. Yup, that nice short day on Tuesday got balanced out by a day of six periods stright through. Good thing, too, since the district isn't able to pay for substitutes taking on more than a contracted day's work. I may have to contact the union about that.

I wrapped things up with an elementary music job, and that proved to be very nice, as there were only seven classes that day. In the past, when taking on elementary PE or music, I've had as many as ten classes in a day, but these were nicely spread out and allowed for some breathng space. One of the amazing parts of this job, however, was the school secretary. This was at a school I've been to less than a dozen times in the last five years -- but she recognized me, and greeted me by name. Oh, yeah, and the custodian popped in at one point and warned me that there would be a fire drill that afternoon. It just goes to show something I learned a long, long time ago: The secretary and the custodian are the two most important people at a school. They are the ones who actually help keep things running. Be good to them.

The WASL is over now for most schools (but I think there are a few elementaries still going next week), so things should get back to normal here, whatever normal may be. I have a high school math job lined up for Friday next week, but otherwise I'm free. But, as I usually observe in this space, something will probably turn up.

La semana de examenes y espanol

First off, my apologies. That title should say "La semana de exámenes y español," but I can't figure out how to get special characters into the headlines. Oh, well. For those who don't remember much of your high school Spanish (or, even worse, never took it), the translation is "The week of tests and Spanish," and that about sums things up. Monday I taught junior high science, and then on Tuesday the WASL started. That's the Washington Assessment of Student Learning, and it's the big standardized test that the state offers, so as to see how well students and schools are doing, and the like. Never mind, of course, that all students and schools are different, so you can't really expect them all to do the same on such a test... But that's for another day. In the meantime, Danny Westneat, a columnist for The Seattle Times, took the WASL as part of his column, and gave his readers this report on it.

So, anyway, with the WASL starting on Tuesday, I ended up not working that day, which gave me the opportunity to do a little more work on applying for jobs. Thanks to all of the legwork I've done already, it actually went pretty smoothly -- either that, or I've just been doing it for so long that now it's all become rote! Then on Wednesday, I got a high school Spanish job that ended up going two days, as the teacher was not feeling well. Good thing I had three years of Spanish in high school and another in college, so I'm passable, and can certainly handle teaching first or second year Spanish. The trouble with this assignment was that they'd had a substitute the previous two days, and the teacher didn't have much planned out, so I had to scramble a bit to find something for them to do. Fortunately, with testing going on for the first two hours, each class was only thirty-five minutes long, so I didn't have to do too much. It went pretty well, and while I also had to proctor some of the tests, that gave me an opportunity to catch up on some reading.

Then on Friday, more Spanihs, this time a junior high job that I'd already arranged some weeks earlier. Most of the classes got to see a video on the Aztec Empire, and the last one learned about the command form of verbs. I knew this well enough to smooth them over the bumps, but I'm not sure I was able to adequately explain where to put in the accents in those cases where you need to. Oh, well.

Testing is still going on next week in both districts, but I'm sure something will turn up. And if not, there are still those jobs to apply for.

Yup, this one's a little late

Hi, everyone, did you miss me? I didn't do my usual update over the weekend because I knew I had all of this week to do it. Yes, I'm on a well-deserved and much-needed spring vacation this week. I actually feel like I'm getting some sleep, for once, and I've gotten a few things done around the house that needed looking after. On the education front, I updated my resume, and got my files current in the two districts I currently work in. So let's hope something actually happens as a result! (In the coming weeks, I hope to get additional school districts into the pipeline.)

So, what happened with the teaching last week? It was all PE and math, and I really enjoyed it all. The one high school math job was particularly nice, as it was some of the more advanced students, and we could actually talk about math on an equal level. I had fun doing some of their worksheets and offering insights as to how to do them. The junior high PE was a good way to close out the week before break, but as often happens at that level, all I really did was stand around and watch them play. Dull, but they alll seemed to have a good time.

So far, not much lined up next week, but I'm sure something will turn up.

Another pretty dull week

Thank goodness spring break is coming up next week. I'm running myself exhausted, and I need the rest.

Another unremarkable week: Elementary library, high school math, junior high gym, and junior high woodshop. So, a couple of unusual things that happened:

• I had two junior high gym jobs at the same school two days in a row -- but for different teachers. Both teachers (who had a presence in the building that day) were amused by the coincidence.
  
• In the woodshop, I had one ninth grade class that was glad to see me, as I'd had many of them for a week of math at the same school earlier this year. One of them said that he did a lot better that week than he has with the regular teacher, which is kind of sad...
  
• Also in the woodshop (different class), I had to write up reports on two of the students. One put a "Kick me" sign on the other as an April Fool's joke -- only to have his victim turn around and punch him. This is bad enough in any other class, but in a shop, with all that machinery? I rarely write students up -- I usually don't have to -- but there was no way I could let this one go by. I wrote them both up, and the one who put the sign on his classmate's back was really upset. I pointed out that one of the rules in that class was "Use common sense," and that he didn't.
  

Already have a high school math class lined up for tomorrow, and junior high gym Thursday and Friday, so this week is looking pretty good. Then next week, over break, I can polish up my résumé and start applying for jobs for the fall. I just hope somebody needs a math teacher in the area...

This week's entry will be pretty anticlimatic...

Not a lot to say this week, especially after the excitement of finally getting my certificate earlier this week. Oh, well. A few more jobs (junior high Spanish, high school English and history, junior high alternative school science, and an actual junior high math job), not much remarkable happened in any of them. Gee, do you think I'm in a rut? Well, spring vacation is coming in a couple of weeks now, maybe I'll actually think of something interesting to say then...

WOO-HOO!!! I'm a real teacher again!!!

I had so much going on this past weekend, I didn't have time to blog. But this proved to be a good thing, as I had a job today that let out early, and came home to find my brand spanking new continuing teaching certificate waiting for me in the mailbox. So now it's official, I can become a "real" teacher again. Now all I need is for someone to offer me such a job...

Anyway, a few highlights of last week:

• I got to teach at the three closest schools to me on three days, so I actually got some walking in. I could certainly go for that full time.
  
• Thursday -- the first day last week I actually had to drive to a job -- I got a late start heading out to a junior high science job, then ran into terrible traffic. When I got there, they told me that I was covering another class during my prep. So thank goodness all I had to do was show some videos! (I don't often say that, as that seems to be a copout for teachers to give subs a video to show, but on this particular day I didn't mind a bit!)
  
• Friday, I was at one local school that I hadn't been to since they'd finished remodeling. Oh, wow! What a nice set-up! And we got to watch the NCAA basketball tournament (it was shop, the students had some minor projects to work on, and I gave them the choice between that or the videos the teacher had out, guess what they chose).
  

Well, I have to go to the evening job soon, but I'm glad I was able to pop in and get you all up to date.

A few observations from the past week's adventures

No big events really happened this week, so instead I'll just give you a few anecdotes:

• Monday, I was an elementary librarian. That was a lot of fun. If I had it to do over again, maybe I'd get my librarian credentials. (Heck, maybe I can do it in the distant future anyway, after I get my master's degree and some coaching credentials.)
  
• Tuesday, junior high math. Despite the one class of very squirrelly students, it was a good day. Of course, I always consider it a good day when I can actually work in the field I taught last year, and want to teach again.
  
• Wednesday I was at the local alternative school -- and when I say local, I mean local, as it was just a short walk away. To my surprise, an old colleague of mine from Seattle is teaching there now as well, so we got to catch up a bit. And now, I'm subbing for him tomorrow. Besides being close, the school is, naturally, small, as are the classes, and the kids are pretty neat, too. Despite the fact that all I had to do was show videos (a topic I will probably go on about before too long), it was a fun day.
  
• Thursday, I was supposed to be at one school that I hadn't been to since they remodeled, and I was looking forward to seeing what the new place looked like. But as I was going out the door, the system called me and offered me another job. HUH? I turned it down and jumped online to see what was up, and sure enough, the job I'd originally signed up for was gone. I'm not sure if the teacher didn't need the job and cancelled the absence (with nobody telling me), or if a glitch in the system cancelled that job when I was trying to cancel another one (my dentist had to postpone an appointment). At any rate, I was disappointed, but I did get to work with a nice third-fourth grade split class instead that day instead. They did get a touch of spring fever in the afternoon, however, and weren't as good for me then as they were in the morning. And with the early spring we're having around here this year -- more of a lack of winter, really -- I have a feeling there will be many classes like this in the coming months. Thank goodness this didn't happen last year in Marysville! The strike-extended calendar was bad enough without adding gorgeous weather on top of it...
  
• Friday, I was at a high school teaching English -- or, to be more accureate, giving quizzes on Beowulf and The Great Gatsby (not at the same time, fortunately). During first period, a lockdown drill was announced, so I dutifully locked my door and closed my shades like one is supposed to. Sure enough, word got around school later, there was a drug-sniffing dog patrolling the hallways during that period. Unlike what happened to me the week before, however, he didn't check out classrooms, just lockers. I have no idea what, if anything, was found.
  

And that's about it! Nothing lined up this week past tomorrow, but something is bound to turn up. It usually does.

Things that go "woof" in the class

Not a terribly eventful week. I subbed for a physics/astronomy teacher at the nearby high school on Monday, a physics/math at another high school on Tuesday, then Spanish at that same school for the rest of the week. This week saw the power of videos if you have an unexpected absence, as I did little more than show videos on Monday (scrounged up by another science teacher), Wednesday, and Thursday. Dull for me, once I saw each one the first time, but at least it allowed me to get a lot of reading done...

There was some excitement Thursday morning, however. It was announced that the school was on a modified lockdown, and no students were allowed to leave class. As it turned out, this was so that a drug-sniffing dog could go around to random rooms and, well, sniff around. And guess what? My Spanish class was randomly (?) chosen. So I got to stop the video and wait out in the breezeway with my class for fifteen or twenty minutes, making sure they weren't using cell phones or the like to contact buddies about what was going on. Kind of exciting, until the novelty wore off. (One student, kidding around, asked if I had anything to worry about, and I mentioned that I had brought coke to school that day...a Coca-Cola in my lunch, of course.) Nobody was taken away once we came back in, so as far as I know my class was clean.

Turns out, however, that that was not the case in the whole school. The next day, I was talking with one of the other Spanish teachers about it, and she told me that there was a lot of resistance among the staff about the dog, as it would disrupt class (understandable, but no worse than a fire drill), and there was no need, as this was a clean-cut, suburban school with good kids and no drug problem. Well, it turned out that that was not entirely the case, as a handful of students were indeed found in possession of drugs or paraphanalia, and even a weapon. A few were expelled that day, and several others were going to be questioned later. Obvioously, this was a wake-up call for both the students and staff.

Nothing lined up this week so far except a junior high math class on Tuesday, but I'm sure something will turn up. It usually does.

Taking a well-deserved week off

This week, I've had something I never had all of last year in Marysville: a BREAK! Both districts I work in have a mid-winter break this week, and it's been wonderful. Granted, I haven't gotten a whole lot of rest, as Sylvan is still going on, and during the day I've had errands and other stuff to do (that I normally can't get done when there's teaching to be done), but at least I've had a bit of a breather. And I'm making the most of it while I can, as I don't get another break of any sort until spring break in the middle of April.

One very important job I took care of this week was to take my paperwork in and submit it to get a new continuing certificate. This is the certificate that will let me apply for full-time jobs, and not just substitute. Fortunately, all of my fears and the warnings of others proved to be baseless. I did not have to start all over again from scratch with a residency certificate, so I can carry on as if nothing happened last fall (and I wish it hadn't...)

Last week's teaching was a strange one for recognition. I had a couple of students in one junior high's language arts classes recognize me, but they weren't sure from where. It took me a moment to realize that I'd taught them at Sylvan a couple of summers ago. I had another of my Sylvan students in an elementary PE class, and as she was one of the first to walk in, she said, "Hi, Eric," and so most of the rest of that class started calling me Eric as well. I think I managed to convince them to call me Mr. G. for the rest of the class, but they weren't totally happy with it. Oh, well, I only had them for thirty minutes anyway. The second strangest recognition of the week, however, came later that night. I was supporting Laura at a meeting of her team for the 3-Day walk for cancer (find out more about that here, and please feel free to give her large, generous, and frequent donations, if you can), as I'd done the walk a few years ago myself and thought I could lend a hand and advice. Well, the son of our host came downstairs, looked at me quizzically, and said, "Eric?" Understand, I've been doing this long enough now that kids recognize me all the time, but usually as Mr. G. It took me a while to remember that he was a regular Sylvan student (but not one that I usually teach, which is why it took a few moments). It took Laura and the rest of her team by surprise. Small world, huh?

The strangest recognition of the week? I was teaching junior high math one day, and during roll call, one student stopped everything cold and went on very excitedly after recognizing me. I taught her class one day a few years earlier, when she was in elementary school. Now, how many of you remember someone you worked with for one day three years earlier? But the scary part is, I remembered her as well! I have a really hard time remembering people, and students I've worked with for months I can have a hard time remembering just a week later. And of course I can't remember the thousands of students I've ever worked with as a substitute. But her I remembered. That day way back in elementary school, she talked with a bad New York accent and tried to get me to believe that she was from the Bronx. It all sort of fell apart when I asked her what neighborhood she'd lived in, and she had no idea, but she kept it going all day anyway. So, flash forward nearly three years, and we still remembered each other. I guess I made a big impact on her.

There was also one ugly incident, which probably shows that there are still some scars left over from the strike. It was in one of the junior high language arts classes I mentioned earlier (and not the same school as my friend from the Bronx, I might add). The classes were working on debates, and their topic was whether or not student-athletes should maintain a minimum C average. It's an interesting topic, and a lot of good points can be made for both sides. Anyway, in one class, the issue of pro athletes needing backup skills came up, as they can't play forever, and someone mentioned sports strikes, such as the one that has now cancelled this year's NHL season. I mentioned that I had been on strike last year in Marysville, and told them the few bits of information that I cared to bring up. They wanted to know more, and kept asking for more details, and I finally had to say, "I don't want to talk about it any more." I mentioned this a couple of times, but they kept going. I finally had a small flare-up of anger, slammed the papers I had in my hand onto the overhead projector, shouted, "I SAID I DON'T WANT TO TALK ABOUT IT ANY MORE!" and huffed off to the back of the room to calm down and collect myself. Fortunately, that's as far as it went, and I was able to calm myself down very quickly. The kids were quiet for a bit, and I apologized for my behavior, and that I didn't mean to take it out on them. They really were a good bunch, and I regretted it as soon as it happened. To their credit, they never brought it up again, and I was able to go on and finish up in a pretty good mood. But it all goes to show just how badly things in Marysville affected me last year, I'm afraid. I thought I was fine with it all, but the problems I've had getting certified this year, the long days of both subbing and Sylvan, the lack of money, and everything else seems to be taking its toll. Well, at least I have this break, and once I get my new certificate (I hope), I can work to truly put all that away by getting a real teaching job again.

I see that I've come full circle, which means I should probably wrap up now. So, I'll write again when I have something to say and time to do it, okay?

This week's adventures in teaching

Well, a new week, a new set of challenges. Nothing much to say again, I'm just still tired from fighting off this cold. It's been a very low grade one that hasn't really done much, but it has been persistent. I was hoping to get a lot of rest this weekend, but no, there's too much other stuff to do...

So, Monday, I assisted in an elementary PE class with three teachers, and two teachers teaching at a time (and two classes coming in at a time). I say "assisted" because when I was there, the other teacher would take the lead, and all I had to do was assist. Not bad -- which I really needed, because when I wasn't out in the gym, I was in the office snoozing! (The cold and going to the Emerald City ComicCon the day before really did me in.) So I took Tuesday off to rest, even though we can't really afford it. The rest helped, but not as much as I would have hoped. Wednesday, I was out at one junior high I really like, where I thought I was going to teach math. But it was set up so that various teachers could go to meetings all day, and I actually ended up with language arts and social studies for the first two classes, and math the rest of the day -- and no prep period, which didn't help my exhaustion (but at least I get paid extra for the extra time I put in). Thursday I taught in an alternate program at one of the high schools. This was the first time I saw an English class reading The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy! Of course, this being an English class, many of the students thought it was boring. Friday, I was back teaching elemetnary PE at another school, but this time I was on my own. The older students were doing some physical fitness testing, which worked well with this bunch, as they were familiar with everything.

Okay, that's about it. Anything you want to know? Anyone want to hear about how things are going at Sylvan as well? Anyone reading this? Anyone? Hello? Use the comments to tell me what you want to hear!

Just a short note to confirm that I'm still alive

Not much to report this past week. I had jobs in elementary PE, elementary library, junior high Spanish (two days -- good thing I took Spanish in high school and college, and can still sound like I know what I'm saying in a classroom), and junior high science. The junior high jobs were mostly showing videos, which is not why I got into teaching...

Anyway, I've been tired and stressed out all week, and now I've come down with a cold. And still two more weeks of full-time subbing and part-time Sylvan before I can get a break during mid-winter break. I just wish folks who get upset at me for not doing things I should can understand that it's not deliberate, just a case of exhaustion and lack of time and energy.

Good news, however, is that my final transcript arrived. So if I don't get a day off before then, I can go down to apply for my new continuing certificate during mid-winter break.

This week's adventures in teaching

Not a lot to tell this week. I actually got to teach the same students all week, for a junior high math teacher who just wasn't feeling well. Nice kids, but (veteran teachers, this will come as absolutely no surprise to you!) some of the classes were a little more lively than others. I did have one student in one of those classes, however, who told me she was trying to do a good job for me and not be her usual inattentive slacker. She also let me explain to her all about finding a linear equation with only two points, or a point and a slope. I'm not sure if she totally got it -- it is a tough subject to get your head wrapped around, especially if you're just not into math -- but at least she was putting in the effort, which I gathered isn't what she usually does. I had a few other such success stories this week, but none quite like that. All in all, it was quite a week, and it was certainly a contrast to the grief I had to deal with last year in Marysville.

Of course, that was all counterbalanced by an ugly incident at Sylvan. One of my students is, shall we say, not the best at applying himself. But I seem to have reached him in some ways, and we at least get along, and he seems willing to learn. But this week, I'm not so sure if that's a good thing. I bring my own mechanical pencils, as they're more versatile for what I do than the ordinary wooden ones the students use (hey, I have to use it for four to five hours each night, they only need them for one). After having him for one hour, I looked around and couldn't find it. This student was at another table, so I called out to him to see if he had seen it, or even had it. Yup, he had it. He'd taken it for a joke. Okay, it wasn't funny, but at least he acknowledged it and got it out to return it. I told him I'd come over to get it, but he decided to throw it to me instead. He turned out to be a pretty good shot, as the point hit me right on the nose! Yup, it drew blood -- not a lot, but certainly enough to get me angry! The thing that really gets me goat, however, is that this kid is in high school, and should know better than to steal sharp, pointy objects, and then throw them at people.

He didn't show up for his second session this week. I like to think he was scared of what I would say. I do know that our director wants to have a few words with him, too. Yeah, I plan to speak to him next time I see him -- but one thing I plan to tell him is that he should try out for the javelin throw on his school's track team! He's a natural!

Happy birthday to me!

Laura wasn't the only one having a birthday this past week -- so did I (it was on Friday)! And I got two very nice presents this past week: My permanent substitute teaching certificate, and the grades from my last class. The former means that no matter what happens in the future, unless I do something so horrid that the state needs to revoke my certificate, I will always be able to substitute. (And if I do something so horrid that the state decides to revoke my certificate, I probably shouldn't be in the classroom, or possibly even a member of a free society.) The latter means that, once I get my transcript, which should be soon, I can go down to the local ESD and see about getting my continuing certificate again. (Oh, and much to my surprise, I got an A.) At any rate, I'm nearing the end of the mess that that @#$% strike in Marysville was at least partially responsible for causing.

On my birthday itself, I had a little adventure. It was partly planned, but it still turned out to be a nice surprise when Laura and I were able to go to work together that day. I was substituting in a third grade class at the same school Laura and her colleagues were putting on a math game day. See, Laura works at a math store (take a look at their website here), and every once in a while, a local PTA will buy a bunch of math games from them, and the store staff comes in and shows everyone how they're played. But wait, there's more! The kids then bring in the parents that night, and the store sells some more games to go home, with the school getting a cut of the sales. Teachers also have the chance to set up a wish list of games they want for the class, and parents can help out that way as well. It's a lot of fun, and I've helped out in the evenings a few times before, but this was my first time being there as a teacher, during the day. Not only that, Laura and I got to go to work together, too, which was nice. It did make for a long day, as I stuck around after I was done teaching for the day, and I was pretty tired by the time we got home (and into the next day; after getting home from Sylvan early Saturday afternoon, I immediately crashed into bed for about three hours of badly needed extra sleep). My duties that night mainly consisted of hauling boxes out of the van and into the area set up as a store, setting the store up, being security, keeping things arranged and nicely visible, and taking things back out to the van once things started wrapping up. Biggest complaint? My nice teacher shoes are not good for one's feet when hauling boxes all evening (at Sylvan, at least, I'm sitting down most of the night). Next time this happens, I'll see about bringing a change of shoes.

So far as teaching these past two weeks, nothing too spectaculaar, although I'm finally getting some math jobs again. I actually had a pretty good time out at one of the high schools, where I got to explain some aspects of advanced algebra that I still rememeber how to do, and the kids actually appreciated that I was explaining it. I also had a day of elementary PE, which is always a nice break, lots of fun and energy going around, and I can dress down quite a bit. So far, only one job lined up for this coming week, and there may not be as many, as it's finals week at the high schools in both districts I work in -- and Thursday is the last day of the semester, and Friday is a day off for students in both districts. Maybe I'll have my transcript by then and can go down to the ESD and apply for my new certificate that day, that would be perfect.

Okay, I'm done blathering now. Hey, feel free to leave some comments, let me know I'm not typing these words for nobody!

Happy birthday, Laura!

This post is for that one special, most important person in my life, my wife Laura. I may not be able to give you much right now, dear, but before long I hope to do much better in supoprting us and getting our lives back on track.

Favorite new thing I saw on a student's T-shirt today

Top Ten Reasons to Procrastinate

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An interesting experience today...

I've got just a quick moment here to tell you all about something out of the ordinary that happened today. I was subbing in a math class at one of the high schools when an announcement was made that, should there be some sort of evacuation, students would probably want to take a coat or something to keep them warm, as it was very cold out, hovering around the freezing mark. Huh? Sure enough, there was a fire alarm. So we trooped out onto the football field in the cold. Yup, it was cold. When we got back to class, I mentioned that it was so cold, I froze my asymptote.

Well, math geeks will get it, anyway. Fortunately, this class got it.

And for those reading this from other parts of the country, wondering why we wimped out over temperatures only in the low 30s F (or around 0 C), let's just say that it usually doesn't get that cold around here.

This week in teaching

Wow, I can't believe how much better I feel this week, now that I've gotten a week of teaching under my belt. I didn't realize just how frustrated I felt over my enforced sabbatical until I got back to work. I haven't felt this good for a long time, despite now going back to working long days between the sub jobs and evenings at Sylvan. Eventually, I'd like to cut out Saturdays at Sylvan, and the rest of the week down to three hours a night instead of four, but so far so good, and with a little planning and cooperation on Laura's part, we can probalby make this work. Good thing, since I missed nearly half the school year already, and we need the money, too.

Interesting start to the week. I got a last-minute assignment for high school social studies, and went in to find no plans. From what I gather, this is very unusual for this teacher, as he's the department head and a very organized person. But his colleagues were a big help, and he has first period planning, so I found a decent video in the library for the Law and Justice classes, and I figured AP U. S. History could take care of itself. I was right about the history classes, as they had a big assignment due the next day anyway, and most needed time to work on it. As the teacher still wasn't feeling well, I went in the next day as well, and this time he made sure I had plans. Not that it was terribly hard: Take Law and Justice classes to computer lab to work on forthcoming paper, give history classes the essay questions on the final to start preparing for them and let them work on the assignment due Thursday. All in all, a pleasant couple of days, and a nice way to ease into the school routine again, for both the students and me.

Wednesday and Friday I was at the big alternate junior/senior high school in the district, for a history teacher. Nothing too toough, most classes involved taking them to the computer lab and letting them work on their big projects. And these were great kids, too, so I had little to do. What was very nice, however, was that Wednesday was their weekly early dismissal day, so I was home by 1:00, which gave me a chance to run some errands.

Thursday I ended up not getting a job. There were a few available, but they were too far out with no time to get there, in subject areas I really didn't want to deal with, or, in one case, ended too late for me to get to Sylvan. But not getting a job that day proved to be a boon, since it gave me the chance to take in the last of my paperwork to the Northshore office and wrap up my application there. They called yesterday and are sending the rest of the paperwork, so I should be on the sub list there as well, and those days off should be much more rare as a result. Between the two districts, I can work just about every day. And if one district has a day off, I can always go to the other one.

No sign yet of my permanent substitute certificate or the transcript with my final class on it to apply for a continuing certificate, but there's no rush yet, either. If nothing turns up in the next couple of weeks, I'll start asking around.

So, anything anyone out there wants to know about my life as a teacher? Feel free to use the comments area.

Just a quick catch-up

Well, I know my regular readers (both of them) are probably wondering what's up. Not a lot, of course. With two weeks off from regular teaching, and a week off from Sylvan, I haven't had much to say. But I already have a job for tomorrow -- high school social studies -- and several other jobs lined up throughout the month, so at least I should be able to keep busy and get some badly needed money. Now, if I could only figure out what I'm going to say in this application letter so I can also get on the sub list in the other district I'd like to work in...

Oh, yeah, I'm back in the game!

Since my temporary teaching permit came the other day, I've been trying to get back into the subbing pool with the two districts I worked in before being hired by (ugh) Marysville. The district I'd rather get most of my work in, as it's the one I live in, the one I hope to work in, and just an overall cool district to work for, is going to take some doing, as I essentially have to go through everything to open a new application, including a letter, resume, letters of reference, etc., which is going to take a while. And since the last day of school before break is this coming Friday, I don't think I'll be able to get a job there before the new year starts. But the other, neighboring district, which is also a nice place to work, said, "Sure, come on in, bring your permit, we'll have you fill out some forms, and you'll be set." So I went in this morning, and they weren't kidding! Within about half an hour, I was back in the system, I got my new substitute's handbook and an ID badge, and I was scheduled for an orientation session next month. But they need subs so bad (as do most districts, actually) that they said I could get started now. So once I got home, I called up their phone-based sub computer and entered my information, then got onto their website and snagged a job for the first day back after break! (Yes, this district has a web-based subfinder system, where you can go in and snag whatever job appeals to you. Only trouble is, you have to be quick, as others are doing the same thing...) They even had a half-day job this afternoon, and my mouse hovered over it for quite a while, but I eventually decided not to take it, as I have no work clothes ironed and ready to go (but guess what I'll be doing this afternoon?), and as I haven't had lunch yet, it would mean no food until I got home from tutoring tonight!

It's not ideal, as I'm back to work days that last twelve to fourteen hours, no benefits, and no guarantees, but at least it ought to keep our bank account from hemorrhaging, and I won't be getting so restless. The most important thing, however, is that I'm teaching again! Of course, I only have the chance to teach for two days before winter break, but it's a start. And yes, I'll be spending much of my time over break applying for the other district (and working -- tutoring only has one week off, so I still have work in the afternoons next week).

All right, then, back to work!

My permit arrived today. Essentially, this is the temporary certificate that allows me to teach now while I await the state to issue me a permanent substitute teaching certificate, which should be coming soon. So, in theory, I could go into a class and substitute tomorrow. But since I still have to go through all of the hoops of applying and getting in all of the paperwork and such, it still won't happen any time soon. Yes, I will start on the whole process later this afternoon, or tomorrow morning at the latest. But I hope I can at least get a day or two in before winter break. No matter what, it looks like I'll be able to start 2005 off on the right foot, for once.

Woo-hoo!!!

I just got a call from someone at the state professional practices office. No problem, she said, you should get your initial permit next week and your permanent substitute certificate not long after that. Sounds like a pretty straightforward case that snowballed, actually, we're glad to certify you.

And it gets better. Since this is a permanent substitute certificate, I won't ever be asked about character issues and the like again, which is what put me in this limbo in the first place. At least, I won't be asked about it again when applying for a certificate, even if my continuing ceretificate lapses again (which is not likley to happen again!). Applying for jobs, that may be a different story...

So now, I can get busy with the job of applying to substitute again. I'm not looking forward to twelve-to-fourteen hour days again, but at least I won't be hemmoraging money again, either.

And now, the waiting game starts

That's it, I'm done with that class. I managed to finish it all off the other day, printed everything out yesterday, and went down to the post office to send everything off today.

But it wasn't quite that simple, of course. First off, I had a personal problem (nothing I need to go into here) that kept me from finishing my final paper as quickly as I'd have liked the other day. But finish it I did. The big problem came yesterday, when I tried to print everything out. I had some weird printer problems that resulted in nothing printing. It took a bit of detective work and guessing, but I finally tried a new printer driver for my machine, and that seemed to do the trick. Then I noticed how faded the print was looking. Oh, shoot! One trip to get a new ink cartridge later, and I was back in business at last, and everything else printed just fine. So I put everything together and got it ready to send off... only to discover that I was missing one key piece of information for the cover sheet! Aaaaaaaargh! Oh, well, I poked around on the university's website a bit and found an e-mail address that I thought would do the trick, and called it a day, as I had to head to Sylvan. So much for getting it in the mail yesterday.

Things went much more smoothly today, fortunately. I got the information I needed and was able to get everything sent off this afternoon. Walking back from the post office, I actually felt like a great weight had been removed from my shoulders. So now, all I need is my transcript with this latest class on it (with a good grade, I hope), and I can finally apply for my new continuing certificate.

Which brings me to the other bit of good news I got today. I contacted the state Office of Professional Practices to check up on the status of my application for a substitute certificate, and lo and behold, someone actually called me back! This is the first time someone from OPP has actually contacted me in response to one of my inquiries! Anyway, she told me that they have everything they need now, and they're going to review my case early next week. So by this time next week, I may actually be a certificated teacher again! Just in time for me to apply for my continuing certificate...

The light at the end of the tunnel!

I appear to be nearly done with the final class I need to get completely recertified. I taught two lessons today to some friends (and many thanks to Seiko and Kristen for coming by), so now all I have to do is some short write-ups on those classes, and a final paper for the class overall, print everything up, and send them in. After all this time and having it hanging over my head for so long, I'm glad to finally get that out of the way.